For 2026, a salute to Kilcullen's women
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| Some of the Kilcullen women who made the news in 2025. |
Looking back through the highlight stories of 2025 on the Diary, one cannot help but be struck by how many of them focus on Kilcullen women, writes Brian Byrne. The reports cover, inter alia, science, literature, politics, business, and local leadership.
Nicholastown woman Professor Teresa Lambe, co-designer of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, addressed the Graduate School Class of 2025 at the University of Notre Dame in the USA, where she spoke about the "superpower" of global collaboration in science. Teresa also delivered the inaugural Fr Sheil People for Others Honorary Address at Clongowes Wood College. Ellen Kelly, Senior Technical Officer in Molecular Virology at the National Virus Reference Laboratory, also from Nicholastown, was a featured speaker at the prestigious BioMedica 2025 conference in Dublin. Kilcullen Neurodevelopment and Behavioural optometrist Nichola Kennedy launched her book, See The Change, which is designed to help teachers identify vision problems in pupils.
Several local women featured prominently in the creative and literary arenas. Hazel Gaynor saw her 12th book, Before Dorothy, published. CPC student and solo vocalist Olivia Lambert won the 2025 JBforever27 music bursary, established by Louise Kelly in memory of her son Jeremy. Cliona Kelliher contributed to an anthology exploring the experiences of autistic adults in Ireland, Wired Our Own Way. Dorly O’Sullivan published Damien: A life for my son, documenting her family’s journey with Down Syndrome and Autism.
In the new business sector, Eileen Tan launched her portfolio of handcrafted wearable fragrances during National Women’s Enterprise Day at Keadeen Hotel, and Dearbhaile Donagh opened Byron Pilates at the Link Business Park.
In the Kilcullen Community Awards, Brona Dooley won the Youth category for her work with the Kilcullen GAA Healthy Clubs initiative. Eilis Philips received one for her contributions to the arts and local theatre, and three women on the Kilcullen GAA Field of Dreams committee — Teresa O’Loughlin, Debbie O’Brien, and Emma McLarnen — were an integral part of the project winning the Community Initiative of the Year award.
Brannockstown woman Annette Aspell, as the Deputy Chief Executive of Kildare County Council, represented the county at the New York St Patrick’s Day Parade. She was a guest of the Kildare Association of New York, the Recording Secretary of which is Sandra Kunzle, née Shortt, also from Kilcullen.
Dr Emma Birchall, former CPC student and a highly active community Scout during her teens, was elected Chairperson of the National Board of Macra na Feirme. Cllr Tracey O’Dwyer is a regular Diary news subject, advocating for community services and infrastructure; among her achievements this year, she secured €100,000 for a skatepark for the town’s young people. Even that is a small part of her broader work for Kilcullen and its residents.
Though not from Kilcullen, Dr Susan Johnston from George Washington University certainly merits honorary status, having led the summer archaeological excavations at Dún Ailinne for most of the last decade. The project concluded this past summer.
These listed represent only a small part of a larger truth: if we examined all the local sports, cultural, social, and educational organisations, as well as many local businesses, we would undoubtedly find many, many more women's names to add, who underpin Kilcullen in ways not always fully appreciated.
As we step into 2026, the Diary salutes you all on behalf of the entire community.
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